Customer Reviews

Senior Moments: Getting the Most Out of Your Golden Years

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A friend loaned me this book and I really enjoyed reading it. I am not a senior myself, but I am caretaker for one. The author hit the nail on the head as far as understanding seniors. His advice was both helpful and friendly. I showed the book to my senior friend and he said that it was good to read a book for seniors that was written by a senior who understood the problems that accompany the aging process.
I highly recommend this book. It is a must read for all seniors.

The subtitle of David Wayne Silva's book "Senior Moments" really describes what this book is about. It is a message of hope and a positive philosophy for "Getting the Most Out of Your Golden Years." The book gives seniors affirmative plans for dealing with physical, mental, and the other universal problems that often go together with the aging process.

Reading the chapters of David's book is like correspondence from an old friend. It is similar to reading a warm, friendly letter, full of stories and practical pointers for making life more meaningful.

David's love for and appreciation of nature is contagious. His descriptive phrases make you feel the touch of your dog's nose against your hand, hear the ocean tides moving toward you on the beach, or see an entire acre of garden flowers and vegetables. He suggests, "Watch the leaves and branches moving with the wind. Observe the ferns moving on a gentle forest breeze." Or, "If you visit the seashore...watch the endless waves, open your mind, and encounter the God who is with us...unnoticed."

The chapters on pain and chronic illness are filled with information and steps to deal with anger and resentment, anxiety and fear, feelings of guilt, and depression. The final chapters "Moving On" and "Concepts to Remember" offer the ingredients to implement the freedom of choice to modify and improve the direction of our lives.

These true stories from life are heartwarming, and the lessons we can learn from David are profound. The spiritual moments and inspirational prayers are thought provoking and meaningful.

This book should be available in every Senior Center, Public Library, and on the coffee table of every home. It is full of practical pointers for positive living for all ages.

David Wayne Silva's Senior Moments: Getting the Most Out of Your Golden Years (Outskirts Press, 2005) is a self-help book and an autobiography by a senior citizen for other seniors. This book is a series of appropriately-titled chapters about the inevitable challenges of aging and the experiences of the author and his friends in dealing with them.

In the first chapter, "Thoughts on Time," Silva writes, "Time that seemed endless in our youth now flies by with brutal resolution." However, one positive aspect of aging is that mentally active seniors can learn to savor every moment. "We see beauty in people, flowers, sunsets, and our animal friends," becoming more aware of the beauty that surrounds us. This book shows how Silva and his friends have done exactly that. The author offers a great deal of practical advice.

In chapters including "The Christmas Tree," "Another New Year's Day," and "Valentine's Day," Silva deals with loss and how to find comfort on what could be lonely, depressing holidays. He finds comfort not only in memories, but in observing flowers, pets, even squirrels, and listening to crickets around him. He also finds comfort in his strong religious faith and includes a short prayer at the end of each chapter, yet he does not claim that religion is the answer for everyone.

Toward the end of the book, Silva mentions his own serious health problems in "On Sleepless Nights," "Thoughts on Pain," and "Chronic Illness," but with few complaints. He retains his focus on the positive side of aging, emphasizing in another chapter that "Living Means Growing." He suggests that we ask ourselves, "Am I still growing? Have I given in to aging and the conditions that growing old brings to our lives?" This book will help the senior reader who answers "No" to the first question and "Yes" to the second to improve his or her life.

Californian David Wayne Silva, a former teacher, school administrator, and family and grief counselor, comes through as a friendly, outgoing, caring senior I would like to meet and talk with. This book should appeal to and comfort anyone old enough to be thinking seriously about the problems of aging, issues almost everyone will face eventually.

Senior Moments
Getting the Most Out of Your Golden Years
David Wayne Silva
Outskirts Press
10940 S. Parker Rd - 515, Denver, CO USA
www.outskirtspress.com
ISBN: 1598001639, $13.95, 148 pp., 2005

I particularly wanted to review this book because I'm a senior myself and just starting to enjoy the benefits of retirement-doing just exactly what I want.

David Silva was a teacher, school administrator, and family/grief counselor prior to his retirement. I'm sure his vocational history contributed to the fine quality of this POD published book. Senior Moments is a well-written, well-edited, and poetically inspirational collection of thoughts and experiences. David's lyrical prose style makes one stop and rereading a verse or two for the pleasure and feel of it. Allow me to quote from Cricket Songs:

"Cricket songs are night sounds, much like rain falling on the roof, a mockingbird singing its ancient night song, or the neighbor's dog barking in the distance. Crickets lull us to sleep and keep us company when we have trouble sleeping."

"The awareness of a common, taken-for-granted sound suddenly interrupted my contemplations. Once again I became aware of the ancient song of the crickets. Their melody crept in from the garden, through the open window, and over the windowsill. I could not help but wonder at the strength and beauty of the cricket song. We usually have to be alone to hear cricket songs. Their voices are a sound that lulls us back to sleep or gently wakes us, a sound that sings accompaniment to our nighttime thoughts. While I listened, night's darkness no longer appeared quite so somber, and a pleasant sensitivity permeated my thoughts."

Senior Moments is a collection of thirty-three short inspirational stories and of these, Are There Really Miracles? was my favorite. It's the story about David and Sallie's two-month premature baby, Dave, which they took home from the hospital to hold while he died. Sallie had a dream that gave her the answer to keeping her baby alive . . . and he did indeed survive.

David Silva urges the reader to, "look at the process of aging with humor and good intentions-to observe the beauty in the natural world around us, to take care of our bodies, to exercise and eat a balanced diet, to maintain old and build new relationships, to maintain and reenforce our spirituality, and to laugh more and cry less."

Reviewer: Kaye Trout of Kaye Trout Book Reviews - Copyright 2006